Joan Smalls gets candid about the thing that ‘pigeonholed’ her early in her career

us.hola.com:

Joan Small wants to be clear about her identity as a model. The Afro-Latina cover girl opened up about her introduction to the modeling world – and the trouble that came with it. “I came to an industry that immediately pigeonholed me.

They saw me as the Afro-descendant model - not even as a mix- they saw me as the black girl,” she told Vogue Mexico. “They didn't see my different layers; That of being Latina or that of being of African descent, they only saw me from the outside.

At the time there was no inclusion, I had to push myself to make a change and say, 'I am much more than just this.’” She continued: “Whenever they referred to Latin, I was last seen by my skin tone .